June 25, 2010 on 11:00 am
From the desk of The Spiritual Explorer
Guru Das
Guru Das is a very warm-hearted, kind man who has a wonderful gentleness and sense of humor. This is his experience with Kali Natha Yoga:
“I first became acquainted with Kali Natha Yoga at Kashi Atlanta in 2002 during a class with Jaya Devi. I remember Jaya Devi had just returned from Florida with a bunch of notes on index cards. I had only taken classical yoga classes from her and I remember how excited she was to teach us this new yoga. I even remember the first asana, the Ganapati asana, one of the original asanas. At first I was skeptical about this new Kali Natha Yoga because it was so different from what I had been doing.” (Since Guru Das implied he had been doing yoga since his 20’s, I interrupted his sharing to ask who his spiritual yoga teacher was. He laughed and told me it had been Raquel Welch and his motivation was to improve his golf game. We had a good laugh about that. As an aside, he told me that he now plays in the low ’70’s.)
Returning to his experience with Kali Natha Yoga, Guru Das told me that when he finished the asanas that day with Jaya Devi, he could only describe it as “feeling blown away and did not know how I managed to get to that space from those unconventional asanas, He added, “ I remember feeling strange as I was told to lumber like an elephant, swing my imaginary trunk and make funny clapping noises with my hands, all of which I have no doubt contributed to the extraordinary experience I had that day.”
“When I saw Ma Jaya for the first time in Florida, I told her I had a kidney transplant and other physical issues. The first thing she told me was that I needed to do Kali Natha Yoga; I never forgot that. She stressed its importance and said that I had not only overcome kidney failure, but that I could overcome any other difficulties associated with my illness if I did this yoga.
My original kidney transplant has indeed lasted a long time, much longer than the prognosis of 11 years given for a transplant. It has been 17 years in fact, and I am now due for another transplant.
“What I carry with me now into the dialysis room, while awaiting my kidney, is my faith in Guru and a wonderful asana that is called the Natha Worship of the Sun which I do in my head. It was a gift from Ma telling us it was the Sun Worship of our lineage. When she gave it to us, it became my favorite asana and I memorized it in its entirety. Ma says that Kali Natha Yoga is a moving prayer. I am not very good at praying, but doing the asana in my head has been my way of praying. It has helped me feel connected not only to Ma, but deal with my fear and negativity. I have also found it to be a balancing asana, bringing in the sun, moon and earth energies and I feel that I am honoring all of them as I sit there. Through the asana I am able to connect to Ma and my lineage and be more than just a physical body going through the challenges of kidney disease. This brings me much comfort and reassurance.
As Guru Das spoke, I was struck by how Ma has always told us to “ignore” ourselves from the very beginning when I was a young chela in 1978. It made no sense to me to think that I could possibly ignore myself when my particular dramas loomed so large in my childish mind. But listening to Guru Das and sensing the bravery and humor he maintains during this arduous time while waiting for a kidney, I am humbled and can remember those glorious moments when forgetting oneself brings one into the presence of the moment and allows us to be embraced by our Guru’s love.
Kali Natha Yoga as taught at Kashi Ashram began their 200 hour or residential program on June 11, 2010 divided into 10 days and 100 hours in June and 10 days and 100 hours in November, 2010. During the time of training you are fully immersed in ashram life and taught personally by Ma Jaya in regular darshan and group yoga meetings in a very intimate setting. Graduates of the 20 days Kali Natha Yoga are then invited to the 500 hour advanced training beginning January 2011.